Welcoming the First Years

[Prf. Shiva Isis/Simmona Mace]

<< This thread will be short and sweet and is only for first year students. Please post so we may head into the Great Hall for the welcoming banquet. >>

Professor Shiva stood directly in front of the Great Hall doors. They towered above her and blocked the noise that came from the other students waiting inside ever so eagerly. Her hands were clasped behind her back and she was standing stiff and straight. Her robe fell to the floor and tracked behind her an inch or two. Her witches hat was placed perfectly on her head.

You could hear the first years' excitement on the other side of the school doors as they hurried up the cobblestone path and into Hogwarts. The doors swung open. The torches from inside gleamed bright and illuminated all the children's faces. Their eyes wandered here and there as they carefully examined the school. Whispered chit-chat filled the atmosphere and hung in the air. The 'Oos' and 'Ah's never stopped until it was time for Professor Isis to speak.

[phee]

"All right, First Years, hurry along," Pippa Rush said.

She was flushed from the climb up from the dock after the trip across the lake and anxious to drop the First Year students off in the foyer so she could join her own friends in the Great Hall for the Welcoming Feast.

As they moved into the foyer, some of the noise and chatter seemed to die down, although she could hear laughter coming from the Great Hall. Glancing over the heads of the First Year students, Pippa saw Professor Shiva Isis near the doors leading into the Great Hall.

"Good evening, Professor Isis," Pippa said. "Professor Albion said for me to escort the First Years here and then go on into the Great Hall."

Pippa Rush

[Ransom Scott]

Eleven-year-old Ransom Scott stood among the First Year students waiting to go into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony, staring up at Professor Shiva. Like Professor Albion, the teacher who had greeted them along with Hagrid at Hogsmeade Station, she wore the traditional black Hogwarts robes, hers bearing a Gryffindor badge. Albion's robes, too, Ransom remembered, had been decorated with a badge, but he couldn't remember it clearly. Looking at Professor Shiva, Ransom wondered now if it indicated the professors who were Heads of the various Houses at Hogwarts, but he couldn't remember if his grandfather had ever mentioned it.

Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff . . . some people's families tended always to be assigned to the same household, Ransom had been told. His own family, though, seemed to have sampled them all.

His grandfather, who had raised him after his parents died, had been in Slytherin House when he'd been at Hogwarts, and he was proud of it to this very day. His son, who had been Ransom's father, had been a Gryffindor on the other hand, and had fought against Lord Voldemort and died in the war before Ransom was born. His widow, Ransom's mother, had been a Ravenclaw; she, too, was dead, though she'd survived Voldemort's War. Sometimes, Ransom thought he remembered her, but it was hard to say, really, since he'd been barely four when she died. Maybe, he had to admit, he didn't remember her at all and it was just wishful thinking.

Sighing, Ransom's hand slipped to the front of his own robes, and his stomach knotted nervously as he wondered which house he would be Sorted into and which badge he would wear on his own school robes.

He'd find out soon enough, he thought, looking around at his First Year classmates and wondering if they were as nervous as he was.

[Chase Morland]

Chase Morland looked around the main foyer of Hogwarts Castle, craning his neck to see over the heads of the other First Years gathered there. He felt a hand slip into his own and glanced left to see his twin sister, Olivia, sidling close to him. Chase was nervous, too, but determined not to show it. He squeezed Olivia's hand briefly before taking a step away and breaking the contact of their hands.

[Olivia Morland]

Olivia Morland reached for her twin brother's hand and saw the quick, nervous look he shot her at the touch. He squeezed her hand momentarily and then took a step away from her, breaking their handhold and Olivia sighed, remembering: She and Chase had been inseparable since birth, but he'd been going on and on about the possibility of them being Sorted into different Houses at Hogwarts, telling her she should get used to the idea just in case. It was, of course, Chase's way of telling her he was too old to go around holding hands with his sister without actually saying the words, and she supposed he was right.

With a sigh, Olivia turned around for a better look at Professor Shiva, brushing against a skinny blond boy near her. "Sorry," she muttered, looking down in embarrassment.

" 'sall right," he said, so quietly she wasn't sure she'd actually heard him.

She gave him a shy smile. "I'm Olivia," she said. "Olivia Morland." She pointed at Chase. "That's my brother, Chase," she said. "We're twins."

[Ransom Scott]

Ransom glanced at the boy Olivia had pointed out as her twin and nodded.

"My name's Ransom," he said. "Ransom Scott."

[phee]

Professor Albion slipped into the entry hall, scooting Elvira DeKeel in front of him. "Go on now," he told her. "Professor Isis will bring you and your classmates into the Great Hall in a few minutes, and then you'll be sorted into your Houses." His eyes twinkled. "Try to stay high and dry until then, will you? I'll see you inside."

At that he raised a hand in greeting to Professor Isis and moved toward the Great Hall.

[Prf. Shiva Isis/Simmona Mace]

Shiva nodded at Albion and slightly smiled. Her attention was now back on the students. "It's time. I know how you all must be feeling at the moment, but once you are sorted and placed at your tables... the butterflies in your stomach will fly away and the fun will begin. I encourage you all to keep up your studies and do your best in school. Those being my final words of advise... Good luck. Oh! When I call your name, take a seat on the stool and the hat will sort you. Follow me, now." She smiled a comforting smile at the children and the Great Hall doors opened wide. Everyone greeted them with an applause as they marched down the center aisle.


>> End. Please post in the Great Hall. <<